Sumerian King List
The Sumerian King List is an ancient originally recorded in the , listing kings of (ancient southern ) from Sumerian and neighboring , their supposed reign lengths, and the locations of the . Kingship was seen as handed down by the and could be transferred from one city to another, reflecting perceived hegemony in the region. Throughout its existence, the document evolved into a political tool. Its final and single attested version, dating to the , aimed to legitimize 's claims to hegemony when Isin was vying for dominance with and other neighboring in southern . Composition The list blends prehistorical, presumably rulers enjoying implausibly lengthy reigns with later, more plausibly historical dynasties. Although the primal kings are historically unattested, that does not preclude their possible correspondence with historical rulers who were later mythicized. Some view the predynastic kings as a later fictional addition. Only one ruler listed is known to be female: "the (female) tavern-keeper", who alone accounts for the Third Dynasty of . The earliest listed ruler whose historicity has been archaeologically verified is of Kish, c. 2600 BC. Reference to him and his successor, , in the has led to speculation that himself may have been a historical king of Uruk. Three dynasties are absent from the list: the , which vied for power with the (included) during the ; and the , which respectively preceded and ensued the , when exercised considerable influence in the region. Lagash, in particular, is known directly from archaeological artifacts dating from c. 2500 BC. The list is important to the of the 3rd millennium BC. However, the fact that many of the dynasties listed reigned simultaneously from varying localities makes it difficult to reproduce a strict linear chronology. Sources The following extant ancient sources contain the Sumerian King List or fragments: * Apkullu-list (W.20030,7) * Babyloniaca ( ) * (ABC 18) including copies, K 11261+ and K 12054 * * UCBC 9-1819 ("California Tablet") * WB 62 * WB 444 ( ) * Nippur fragment (Ni. 3195) The last two sources (WB) are a part of the "Weld-Blundell collection", donated by to the . WB 62 is a small clay tablet, inscribed only on one side, unearthed from . It is the oldest dated source, at c. 2000 BC, that contains the list. WB 444, in contrast, is a unique inscribed vertical , dated c. 1817 BC, although some scholars prefer c. 1827 BC. The Kish Tablet or is an early 2nd millennium BC tablet which came into possession of , but only contains list entries for four Sumerian cities. UCBC 9-1819 is a clay tablet housed in the collection of the Museum of Anthropology at the . The tablet was inscribed during the reign of the Babylonian King , or slightly earlier, with the earliest date of 1712 BC. The Dynastic Chronicle (ABC 18) is a Babylonian king list written on six columns, beginning with entries for the antediluvian (prior to the flood) Sumerian rulers. K 11261+ is one of the copies of this chronicle, consisting of three joined fragments discovered at the . K 12054 is another of the Neo-Assyrian fragments from (c. 640 BC) but contains a variant form of the antediluvians on the list. The later and repeated the earliest portions of the list, thus preserving them well into the 3rd century BC. At this time, wrote , which popularized fragments of the list in the . In 1960, the Apkullu-list (Tablet No. W.20030, 7) or “Uruk List of Kings and Sages” (ULKS) was discovered by German archaeologists at an ancient temple at . The list, dating to c. 165 BC, contains a series of kings, equivalent to the Sumerian antediluvians, called "Apkullu". List Early dates are approximate, and are based on available archaeological data. For most of the pre-Akkadian rulers listed, the king list is itself the lone source of information. Beginning with and the Third Dynasty of Uruk (which was defeated by ), a better understanding of how subsequent rulers fit into the can be deduced. The is used here. Antediluvian rulers None of the following predynastic rulers have been verified as historical by , or otherwise. While there is no evidence they ever reigned as such, the Sumerians purported them to have lived in the mythical era before the great deluge. Some modern scholars believe the Sumerian deluge story corresponds to localized river flooding at (modern Tell Fara, ) and various other cities as far north as Kish, as revealed by a layer of riverine sediments, to c. 2900 BC, which interrupt the continuity of settlement. pottery from the (c. 3000–2900 BC) was discovered immediately below this Shuruppak flood stratum. The antediluvian reigns were measured in Sumerian numerical units known as sars (units of 3,600), ners (units of 600), and sosses (units of 60). Attempts have been made to map these numbers into more reasonable regnal lengths. First dynasty of Kish First rulers of Uruk First dynasty of Ur , possible founder of the .}} Dynasty of Awan This was a dynasty from . Second dynasty of Kish The First dynasty of (c. 2500 – c. 2271 BC) is not mentioned in the King List, though it is well known from inscriptions Dynasty of Hamazi Second dynasty of Uruk Second dynasty of Ur Dynasty of Adab Dynasty of Mari Third dynasty of Kish Dynasty of Akshak Fourth dynasty of Kish Third dynasty of Uruk Dynasty of Akkad or ; descendants of ( ).}} Fourth dynasty of Uruk ::(Possibly rulers of lower Mesopotamia contemporary with the Dynasty of Akkad) The Second dynasty of (before c. 2093–2046 BC ( )) is not mentioned in the King List, though it is well known from inscriptions. Gutian rule Fifth dynasty of Uruk Third dynasty of Ur Independent states in lower Mesopotamia. The Dynasty of (c. 1961–1674 BC ( )) from this period is not mentioned in the King List. Dynasty of Isin * These epithets or names are not included in all versions of the king list. References Category:Mythology